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ATLANTA — A vaccine against cervical cancer hasn’t been all that popular for girls. It might be
a harder sell for boys now that it’s been recommended for them, too.

A government advisory panel decided yesterday that the vaccine also should be given to boys, in
part to help prevent the cancer-causing virus through sex.

Public-health officials have tried since 2006 to get parents to have their daughters vaccinated
against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes most of the cervical cancer in women.

They have had limited success. Some parents distrust the safety of vaccines. Others don’t want
to think about their daughters having sex one day, or worry that the vaccine essentially promotes
promiscuous behavior.

Yesterday’s vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was the first to strongly
recommend routine vaccination for boys since the vaccine was first approved for them two years ago.
Officials acknowledged the low rate in girls encouraged them to take a new, hard look.

Experts say a key benefit of routinely vaccinating boys could be preventing the spread of the
virus to others through sex — making up somewhat for the disappointing vaccination rate in girls.
But the recommendation is being framed as an important new measure against cancer in males.

“Today is another milestone in the nation’s battle against cancer,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, a
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention administrator who oversees the agency’s
immunization programs.

Federal health officials usually adopt the panel’s recommendations and ask doctors and patients
to follow them.

The vaccine has been advised for girls since 2006. Only 49 percent of adolescent girls have
gotten at least the first of the three HPV shots. Only a third had gotten all three doses by last
year.

An estimated 75 to 80 percent of men and women are infected with HPV during their life, but most
don’t develop symptoms or get sick, according to the CDC.

The HPV vaccine is approved for use in males and females ages 9 to 26; it is usually given to
11- and 12-year-olds when they get other vaccines. The committee also recommended that males 13 to
21 years get vaccinated.

Yesterday’s vote follows recent studies that show the vaccine prevents anal cancer in males and
might work against a type of throat cancer. A study that focused on gay men found it to be 75
percent effective against anal cancer.

There are two vaccines against HPV, but yesterday’s vote applies only to Merck & Co.’s
Gardasil.